


Stray

by AyotliKestrel



Series: Stray [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Awesome Mom, Gen, Hiroko's pov, Women Being Awesome, Yuuri growing up as seen by his mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 06:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8317810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyotliKestrel/pseuds/AyotliKestrel
Summary: It was an offhand comment from a guest that made her notice the first one. The comment was simple, “Children have a way of bringing home strays, be kind to them when they do if you are able, because mothers have to trust that there is something special that made the creature stay instead of running and hiding.” She had smiled at the woman and reminded that all guests were welcome at their inn before refilling her glass.
****Basically the one-shot dedicated to how freaking awesome Yuuri's mom is! I love her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Real talk here, seriously, this is one amazing women. Just in the first two episodes she has dealt with a lot and I want to give her a little tribute. This is all from her perspective, so while there is one het kiss and some sexuality confusion, this story is not about relationships at all, but a mother's worry about the fallout from them.

***Stray***

Hiroko had been given a lot of advice about mothering when she was going about the business of raising her children. Most was of a practical nature, where to find the best schools and the sorts of activities an independent child such as Mari might enjoy, or where she could find a place for a shy boy like Yuuri to spread his wings. There was other advice of course that was far more whimsical and less concrete regarding the rumors and superstitions of raising daughters and sons.

It was an offhand comment from a guest -a middle-aged women celebrating a quiet anniversary with her husband as a gift from their own children- that made her notice the first one. The comment was simple, “Children have a way of bringing home strays, be kind to them when they do if you are able, because mothers have to trust that there is something special that made the creature stay instead of running and hiding.” She had smiled at the woman and reminded that all guests were welcome at their inn before refilling her glass.

Mari had already been dragging home the odd bedraggled kitten, which the family nursed back to health and would have been content to keep but so far all had been adopted by guests of the Onsen that had been coming for long enough they knew the animals would be well cared for. 

That was not something they couldn’t handle, though cats and water didn’t typically have a fondness for each other so Hiroko did hope none of the felines would wonder off into the hot springs for a nasty surprise. 

It was Yuuri, tiny shy Yuuri, who surprised her. He didn’t collect kittens, or puppies, or toads; nothing like that. No, Yuuri’s strays were people. 

The first was Minako. Of course every Hasetsu native more or less knew each other and the ballet teacher was respected in the community, but she was also a bit of a loner. The quiet beauty all alone, that was until Yuuri tugged her shyly into the Inn’s dining hall where Hiroko was serving guests. 

Yuuri was such a tiny thing, not even coming up to the dancer’s lean hip, “Mama, Minako-sensei wants to talk to you. She said I could be a skater!” Seeing as how her son was practically tripping over himself in nervous excitement, Hiroko could tell how much the praise meant to him. 

It made her smile, broad and warm, gesturing to the ballerina to come further inside, “Please, please come in! Make yourself comfortable there is plenty of room for you here.” She swept out her arms, beckoning Minako to sit gracefully at an empty spot in the warm well lit room, filled with the sound of good hearted chatter and low rumbled from the tv. Something smelled good too, whatever was for dinner was giving off a heavenly scent, and her stomach growled. 

Well, as a hostess Hiroko could hear a growling tummy or spot bagged eyes from a mile away, “Oh, you mustn’t have had a chance to have dinner yet? Don’t you worry, I’ll fix you and Yuuri up and we’ll talk over a meal, sound good?” 

Slowly, the china doll cracked, and a smile split the perfection into something much more beautiful and real. “That would be wonderful.” Minako responded with easy laughter, relaxing her posture and sprawling out on her side of the table, letting her long limbs take up the room they needed to not feel cramped. Here, in this room, she felt she could breathe and not be judged. Looking next to her at the hopeful anticipation on Yuuri’s young face she let out another laugh and fluffed up his already fluffy black hair, delighting at the indignant squawk her student let out. “Thank you, this is nice.” She complimented quietly, the boy too distracted with fixing his hair and complaining to notice. 

Hiroko though was coming back with three bowls of the night’s special, she did hear, and it gave her pause. The words of that guest’s warning coming back to her before fleeing just as quickly. 

She put the bowls in front of her guest and son first, serving herself last out of habit, watching the looks on the two faces as they enjoyed her recipe with a calm steady kind of pride. She was the kind of person that got true joy from taking care of people, making sure they were fed watered, clean and rested. 

So this one, the first of her son’s strays. Wasn’t difficult. Minako was cheerful and vibrant most days, with a few dark times where she wanted a bottle of something strong, a dark corner, and harbored a desperate need to not be alone. They could be that for her. Especially after everything Minako was doing for her boy, it seemed like nothing to help the women ease her loneliness by bringing her into their lives when she needed it. 

Minako was the catalyst for Yuuri discovering the next two strays. Yuuri never had an easy time making friends, he was small and shy, with a disposition to make himself disappear. That all changed when he got his first taste of the ice though. Yuuri was soon spending more of his time out of school at the Ice Castle than at home. Hiroko had a hard time getting answers from a frustratingly evasive Yuuri about the people he was learning with, and it was only by using Minako as a friendly spy that she was prepared for the day three boisterous youngsters invaded her inn. 

Hiroko had to hide a knowing chuckle when her son valiantly fought a losing battle with a blush the first time he brought his rink mates over for lunch. Minako had been so very right, Yuuko-chan was such a sweet girl, but there was steel in her too that was reassuring to see if she was going to be growing up in such a rowdy group. Takeshi-kun was absolutely adorable in his indecisiveness, one moment he was so jealous he might as well have a sign over his head, the next he was busy plotting the next sequence they would skate together. 

The longer she spent watching and the more time they spent growing, the more laughing she did. Takeshi grew into the kind of friend that would be teasing Yuuri one moment and lashing out at someone else who dared try it the next. Only HE was allowed to do such a thing. Yuuko was the mediating force between the rough and tumble Takeshi and the still introverted Yuuri. She was strong enough to break them up if it got too intense, and sweet enough to keep them wrapped around her finger. Both of them boosting Yuuri to be a stronger and better athlete than he ever could be.

Far more than their own homes, or even the ice rink that held their happy memories, it was the Onsen that they grew up in. Both the Inn and the hotspring itself had lent itself to some interesting discoveries, heartbreaks, and triumphs. 

It was where, as children sneaking in after hours to go swimming, they had learned why exactly men and women had separate sides despite it being the same water on both sides of the fence. The awkward blushing, inability to look at each other, and guilty expressions had been enough to give them away the next morning to Hiroko who was a kind enough person to not call the other two’s parents, but cruel enough to laugh at the trio. 

It was where they first felt what it was like to kiss, and to lose. It had been such a soft and gentle thing, an I’m sorry, but I can’t. The trouble is, it didn’t go the way anyone could have predicted or expected. Love, relationships, kissing, more? It was all so confusing. Thirteen was no fun. Fifteen wasn’t much better Yuuri supposed, reminded yet again that his friends were older than him. 

Yuuri thought he loved Yuuko, he was supposed to love her right? She was cute and funny, they liked the same things; but he’d been getting these weird feelings, and it was messing with his focus. He liked holding her hand and it was nice hugging her, but he liked hugging Minako-sensei too, and he definitely didn’t love her, so what was it? 

There was only one thing that made his palms sweat, his heart pound and blood rush. That was skating. 

Well that and watching skating.

Well, okay, one person skating… But no seriously that wasn’t the point! The point was, he was supposed to be thinking about Yuuko and he just really couldn’t. Maybe two years was too much? Was he too young to think about her like that yet, despite her interest in him?

Hiroko was the one to watch her young son wrestle and wrangle with himself, agonize over choices that seemed much too heavy for his small shoulders and yet they had to be faced. It was better to know oneself than to hide. 

Yuuri’s strays were his support and his bane. They brought him joy and pain in those rough times of learning and trying. The one sweet kiss Hiroko had accidently interrupted had pushed her heart into her throat and made her stomach drop, because those quiet words -I’m sorry, I can’t- that was her Yuuri saying them. To Yuuko. The devastation plain on both faces, even as tears gathered. 

When two heartbroken teens stumbled into her kitchen Hiroko couldn’t do much but bundle them up with some tea and dango. Showing her love through the food and comfort and support while they worked through the pain of hopes and dreams changing much too rapidly for young hearts to handle. 

Takeshi found them not an hour later, summoned by phone or instinct Hiroko would never know, and his presence was never more needed. He seemed to know, just by looking, what had happened between his two rink mates. Instead of the jealous rage, or awkward envy Hiroko was expecting she was so proud to see him plop down at the table between the two, steal a dango off Yuuri and fling an arm around Yuuko. He spoke rapidly and excitedly about qualifiers for the next skating tournament and what new trick Yuuri should try and land for it prompting Yuuko to add her own ideas for Yuuri’s program. 

Right there, before her eyes, Hiroko watched the dynamic of the trio change from one of childhood equals, to a supportive force boosting Yuuri higher and higher at the expense of themselves. It was never about Takeshi and Yuuko choosing each other over Yuuri, never that, it was the other way around. Only, Hiroko was willing to bet her dear sweet son had no idea what the other two had done, or he would never have let them. 

He truly did want to return her affections, but couldn’t, for him it wasn’t right. He was a seething mass of doubt and self-consciousness, not knowing why he couldn’t respond to her affections with his own was eating him alive, so much so that he wouldn’t have been able to do anything with himself if it weren’t for Yuuko and Takeshi giving him the push he needed. 

He was just fine the way he was, he didn’t need to be anything else for them, and they were going to hone his skill until he was the best in Japan. Yuuko and Takeshi had long acknowledged that if any of them were going pro, it was Yuuri. He was the best of them, but needed the faith in himself to use it. So they practiced with him, laughed, cried, sweat, bled, lost, won, loved, and kept on living right on through their wedding and the birth of their daughters barely a year later. 

By the time they were twenty and Yuuri was eighteen he was top tier, respected, and off to Detroit to train. 

Hiroko could never be more thankful for the support they gave her son. The Nishigori family was always welcome at the Onsen, and they livened up the place greatly when she was missing her boy and waiting for news. Together with Minako they crowded around phones and laptops to hear from their Yuuri, tracking his progress, checking on him, and making sure he was okay. He had both triumphs and slumps, but it didn’t matter, he was out there, living his dream and doing what he loved. The sheer joy on normally reserved features was enough to make Hiroko grasp Minako, Yuuko, and Takeshi’s hands in turn and thank them profusely. Giving Yuuri this hope, this light, it was more than she could have dreamed. 

Then the Grand Prix Finals came, and she would forever live with regret and wonder what might have happened if she hadn’t told Yuuri about Vicchan before his performance, or maybe had found a better way to tell him. Her boy was always so loving and he grew up with the dog as part of his home and family, it was a big part of his life and heart. Not only that, but he did have a reputation for his glass heart and nerves, there was so much at stake in the big competition with his idol watching. She wanted to reach out and help him, do something to ease his anguish, but she was hours away and in another country so all she could do was watch the defeated look cross her son’s face as he retreated from the ice. 

He didn’t recover from the blow and was soon coming back to Japan. She harbored some hope he might be able to pick himself up, but was glad to have her boy home and within reach again if only for a short while.

She should have known, deep down, that Yuuri’s little habit had never quite went away. That was evidenced by the famous athlete checking into her Onsen. Now with Yuuri as a son she knew exactly who this person was, as he practically had a shrine to Viktor Nikiforov in his bedroom. 

She was pleasantly surprised to find he spoke passing Japanese, she knew international athletes picked up languages here and there, but hers wasn’t so common. That pleasant surprise turned to astonishment when he explained exactly why he was there and asked for permission to stay and coach her Yuuri. As long as he agreed of course.

Well what do you know, she sent her son half way around the world, and as soon as he comes back another stray follows; and this one’s a handsome Russian!

At least he was thoughtful enough to warn that his training methods were, well, unconventional. Otherwise Hiroko would not have been able to stop herself from laughing at the look on her son’s face as he realized he’d fallen perfectly into the trap Viktor wove.

Now having grown up with Takeshi, and the sport world in general, the words were nothing compared to the things Yuuri had heard before in both teasing and hurtful waves. Quite honestly the hardest part to swallow in all of Viktor’s statements had not been the teasing or even the nickname, no it had been the ban from the ice until he lost his extra pounds. 

Well, motivation came in different forms for all but thanks to Viktor’s warning Hiroko knew this was a test for Yuuri, to see just how determined he was to see this through and keep skating. The uploaded video had shown Yuuri’s skill and passion for the sport, he obviously loved it, but now Viktor needed to see his drive to win. It had to be strong enough to overcome his nerves with the right training or nothing any of them did would make any difference.

Hiroko would have worried more, about words and treatment, and her son’s softness; if the method hadn’t been working. It was transforming Yuuri. There was a fire in his eyes she hadn’t seen since he was sixteen and winning his way into Japan’s skating elite. He wanted so desperately to prove his worth to Viktor that it was shaping his body and mind back into what he was when he and the ice were one unit, one breath. All without laying one blade on the rink.

Yuuri’s strays were certainly extraordinary, that’s for sure, and it wasn’t over yet.

The small teen, full of anger and talent, had belligerence seeping out of his pores in a way only adolescents thirsting for something more could produce. He was blonde, loud, and Russian like Viktor, but so much more dynamic and explosive Hiroko could have spent hours just trying to figure out this wild creature that descended on her home. 

His need to prove himself, that drive to get the attention and spotlight was so unlike her own Yuuri it made her smile and reach to fluff up his hair so he would growl and bristle like an angry cat, every ounce of him bursting to lash out at him until he remembered who exactly it was feeding him.

He was certainly the most feral of her son’s strays, but as she watched she saw the story of hurt and loneliness behind the ball of anger. Luckily she was not the only one. Viktor and Yuuri, Takeshi and Yuuko, and even Minako would gang up on the little Russian until he was yelling or laughing, expressing himself with them. They drew him into their circle smoothly until he was less bristle and more adorable fluff. 

Hiroko loved that her dining room was full to bursting with people, eating and drinking their fill, laughing together, arguing about whatever match or game was playing on the television, and for the family of strays collected at the noisiest table tucked in the corner she was so glad here was the place they felt comfort and love, and chose to return to time after time.

Because children had a way of bringing home strays, and she would care for all those she was able, because they saw something special in her Yuuri that made them chose him and not turn away. She would feed them, watch over them, make sure they had a bed to sleep on, and above all; give them a home to come back to whenever they needed one.


End file.
